Motherboard BIOS Upgrades

Robert Leaman · Post by **Robert Leaman** » 27 Jul 2006 8:38 am

Some BIOS manufacturers have merged. There is a company examines your BIOS, tells you what it is, and who made it. Then, if you wish, they will recommend an upgraded BIOS for your machine. Go to:
http://www.esupport.com/home.cfm?CFID=7804126&CFTOKEN=56316622

There is a great deal of information about computer BIOS on the site and possibly there is something to help. I purchased a new BIOS for my Tyan motherboard. It automatically saved the original BIOS and automatically flashed a new BIOS that helped the machine considerably. Be sure to read ALL the instructions before any BIOS is flashed. If not done properly, you WILL lose the ability to use your computer.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 27 Jul 2006 9:27 am

Anybody contemplating flashing their BIOS should have their computer and monitor plugged into an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS). A UPS will also protect your computer from minor voltage fluctuations, browouts, and blackouts. It will detect the loss of AC power and will order your computer to shutdown before the battery backup runs out. I have one on each computer in my house and most of my customers have one per computer as well. The major brands are APC, Tripplite and Cyberpower.

If you need one but don't have a supplier nearby you can order an Uninterruptable Power Supply<img alt="" width="1" height="1" src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?i ... =10&subid="> from here and have it delivered to your house or business.

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Bob "Wiz" Feinberg
Moderator of the SGF Computers Forum
Visit my Wiztunes Steel Guitar website at: http://www.wiztunes.com/
or my computer troubleshooting website: Wizcrafts Computer Services,
or my Webmaster Services webpage.
Learn about current computer virus and security threats here.
Read Wiz's Blog for security news and update notices[This message was edited by Wiz Feinberg on 27 July 2006 at 10:28 AM.]

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 27 Jul 2006 11:07 am

Good point on the UPS. Coming from a commercial computer and networking background we always had UPS back up systems.

The UPS won't protect you on "long" power outages but it will save the PC on most outages which are mostly momentary power glitches, dropouts, etc. A "surge protector" won't do you any good with these common power line interruptions. A small UPS will run about $40 (and then others are more) is you catch them on sale (Best Buy had one last week for $39.95). A decent surge protector will cost you more than a UPS and it won't protect you from the power line interruptions. The UPS will also do what a surge protector does.

As far as a BIOS update. If an AC power dropout (or whatever power problem) occurs while doing the BIOS update, it can (and in many cases will) cause a fault in the BIOS upgrade and if the BIOS is "trashed" you will not be ablt to boot up the PC. If the BIOS is "trashed" ultimately it may involve replacing the entire motherboard.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 27 Jul 2006 9:33 pm

I've been a computer professional (software engineer) for 20 years, a hobbiest for 25, and I've never once done a BIOS upgrade. Why would someone need to do such a thing? Isn't the BIOS that ships with a computer always right for the specific hardware?

This has always baffled me. It seems to fall into the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" category.

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<img align=left src="http://b0b.com/b0bxicon.gif" border="0"> Bobby Lee
-b0b- quasar@b0b.com 
System Administrator 
My Blog

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 27 Jul 2006 9:51 pm

b0b asked: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>
Isn't the BIOS that ships with a computer always right for the specific hardware?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No, not in all cases. When a motherboard is first shipped to the world it may work fine with the hardware that was available at that time. Two or three years later the capacities or capabilities of replacement hardware will have improved and the original BIOS may not be equipped to understand these changes. That is why motherboard manufacturers routinely issue BIOS updates, until a particular MB reaches EOL.

Some of the things that change that may require a BIOS update include:

You need to add/replace your hard drive, but there has been a change in hard drive specifications. E.g. first gen SATA drives vs. 2nd gen SATA. or new drives that are way larger than the ones available when you bought the MB.
RAM timing issues may need correcting via BIOS updates
Video card improvements not recognized by older version of BIOS
NIC improvements not recognized
CPU support in original BIOS may not anticipate future improvements/tweaks in a CPU series, or in new series releases, requiring a BIOS flash to recognize the newest CPU from the manufacturer the board supports.
Hardware monitoring and thermal sensors may change and need a BIOS update
New releases of operating systems my not work properly with an older BIOS version.
New features can be added with a BIOS flash, giving more control over individual parameters, such as FSB and memory bus clock speeds and multipliers, video timing, voltage and bus speed and USB 2.0 and future USB or Firewire spec upgrades.
A laptop may need a BIOS upgrade to recognize a new, higher-than-original-capacity battery type, like certain Dell Latitudes I have used.

These are some of the things I have encountered when deciding if a motherboard needs a BIOS flash.

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Bob "Wiz" Feinberg
Moderator of the SGF Computers Forum
Visit my Wiztunes Steel Guitar website at: http://www.wiztunes.com/
or my computer troubleshooting website: Wizcrafts Computer Services,
or my Webmaster Services webpage.
Learn about current computer virus and security threats here.
Read Wiz's Blog for security news and update notices

[This message was edited by Wiz Feinberg on 27 July 2006 at 10:53 PM.]

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 28 Jul 2006 6:07 am

Okay, I can see it if you're changing the internal components of the computer.

If you're like a normal computer user who buys one, plugs it in and uses it for 3 or 4 years, then buys a new one, you'd never need to upgrade your BIOS, right? I mean, I have a computer sitting here that was purchased in 1999. It's a 400 MHz PII with 128 MB of RAM. Last year I installed Windows Server 2003 Web Edition on it, and I'm running it as a web server for an application I'm testing. It works fine.

I think my point is that upgrading the BIOS is a big deal for most of us. It's like adding more pedals to your guitar. It's something best left to qualified service personel or very experienced hardware hackers.

I've never even been tempted to try.

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<img align=left src="http://b0b.com/b0bxicon.gif" border="0"> Bobby Lee
-b0b- quasar@b0b.com 
System Administrator 
My Blog

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 28 Jul 2006 6:28 am

When you've got the floppy in the drive, and the bios swapping program is running, and new bin file has been selected, and you're about to hit the "enter" key to proceed with the upgrade, that's when the "faint of heart" back down. I've chickened out a few times. If ANYTHING goes wrong, you're toast...
It's one thing to do this on the bench in the repair shop with lots of extra components/pc's/software/net connections around to bring something back from the dead. It's another thing to try this in your kitchen.

Like they say on Mythbusters... Do Not Try This at Home.
[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 28 July 2006 at 07:31 AM.]

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 28 Jul 2006 7:53 am

Some motherboards come with a utilities CD that may include a BIOS upgrade tool that can be run from Windows. Asus has this and I have used it to do several updates online. You download the file and save it to a certain location, then save the existing BIOS code, then flash the BIOS, then reboot.

If you had some custom settings you will need to enter the BIOS setup during the initial boot process and re-establish those settings.

Again, it's best to be connected to an Uninterruptable Power Supply when doing this.

This is a scary process the first time you do it, but if you backup the existing file, are connected to a ups and follow the instructions to the letter, you won't have any problems. You can even restore the previous BIOS if you don't like the features in the new one, using the same flash utility.

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Bob "Wiz" Feinberg
Moderator of the SGF Computers Forum
Visit my Wiztunes Steel Guitar website at: http://www.wiztunes.com/
or my computer troubleshooting website: Wizcrafts Computer Services,
or my Webmaster Services webpage.
Learn about current computer virus and security threats here.
Read Wiz's Blog for security news and update notices

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 28 Jul 2006 7:56 am

Here is another source of BIOS upgrades.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 28 Jul 2006 9:39 am

Along with added features, there are "fixes" included in BIOS updates. One update I did for my Intel M/B BIOS fixed a glitch in the "Enhanced Controller" (USB 2.0).

The "if it's not broke don't fix it" approach does not always apply to BIOS updates.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 28 Jul 2006 10:15 am

But in your case it was broke, Jack.

Robert Leaman · Post by **Robert Leaman** » 29 Jul 2006 1:01 pm

The first BIOS that I installed was a 32 step octal routine in a Honeywell machine in 1970. I wrote the octal program that controlled, in real time, a 15 stand cross country bar mill in England. Exit bar speed was about 3000 feet/minute so it was a real chore to make the Honeywell execute everytime in closed loop. The Honeywell operated with a magnetic core memory and the program loaded with a 9-bit WE Teletype machine that read punched paper tape. Since that time, I built every computer that I owned. When my computer is finished, I have what I want, it operates how I want, and it handles my engineering programs.

Yes, BIOS flashes can be daunting but it's a bit like your first time, after the 10th or 50th, one can have a bit more confidence and know exactly what to do to experience the best performance. I believe in the adage, "If it's not broke, don't fix it", but I also believe in tweaking a system for a performance enhancement.

Gary Shepherd · Post by **Gary Shepherd** » 30 Jul 2006 12:27 pm

I updated my BIOS the other day for the new CPU I have ordered. I downloaded a program and installed it. When I ran the program, it checked my current motherboard BIOS, downloaded the new BIOS, and updated it for me. It was all automatic. Sweet!

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Gary Shepherd

Carter D-10

www.16tracks.com